In case you haven’t already seen the cupcakes Sarah and I made for the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special coming up this weekend, you may not know that I’ve been more than a little excited about it. Within the recipe for those cupcakes, I also promised a recipe for the Jammie Dodger Filling Jam that I filled them with to make them “bigger on the inside,” and I definitely wanted to deliver on that promise before Saturday in case you’ll be making the cupcakes to bring to a Doctor Who-themed party of your own!

Rather than simply sharing the jam recipe though, I wanted to give you another use for it – such as in your own homemade version of the Doctor’s current favorite snack, Jammie Dodgers! These tasty biscuits are simply shortbread cookies filled with raspberry-flavoured plum jam. Of course, you can use seedless raspberry jam if you’re crunched for time, but I couldn’t help but try to make this homemade version as authentic as possible. I hope you’ll enjoy these, as well as the show on Saturday. Have a wonderful weekend!

For the Jammie Dodger Filling Jam:

4 cups red plums, quartered

4 cups raspberries

4 Tbsp lemon juice

1 package (1.75 oz) powdered pectin

5 cups sugar

In a large pot, mash together the plums and raspberries. Place the mixture in a food mill and process to remove the skins and seeds. Measure 4 cups of skinless, seedless fruit mixture and add it to a large pot. Add in the lemon juice. Bring to a boil, and then stir in the pectin. Boil for one minute, and then add in the sugar all at once. Return to boil and boil hard one minute before removing from the heat. Skim off any foam. If you don’t wish to can the jam, stop here and simply pour the jam into jars and store them in the refrigerator. Use within 2-3 weeks.

To can the jam, prepare your canning supplies: bring the temperature of the glass jars up by processing them in hot water for several minutes, and heat a few cups of water in a small saucepan for the lids. Ladle the hot jam into the jars, leaving 1/4″ headspace. Place the lids and bands on top, screwing on the bands just until fingertip-tight. Place the full jars back into the boiling water and process 10 minutes. Remove from the water and place the jars on a towel. The seals should suck down as the jars cool. Makes 4 half-pint jars.

For the Homemade Jammie Dodgers:

1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/8 tsp salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

6 ounces Jammie Dodger Filling Jam (above)

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, powdered sugar, and salt. In a large bowl, beat the butter until fluffy. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating until combined. Beat in the egg yolk and vanilla extract. Divide the dough in half, and flatten each half into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 20-25 minutes.

While the dough is refrigerating, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll each disc out to about 1/4″ thickness. Using a round fluted cookie cutter, cut out as many cookies as you can, re-rolling the dough scraps as necessary and making sure to have an even number of cookies. With a smaller, shaped cutter, cut a hole out of the center of half of the cookies. Place the cookies on the parchment paper and bake 13-15 minutes or until just beginning to brown. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Quickly spread a small amount of jam on the halves of the cookies that do not have holes, topping with the halves that do have them. Let cool completely. Makes about 2 dozen biscuits, depending on the size of the cookie cutter you use.